Tips for Headaches

Do you often suffer from headaches? Stress, lack of exercise, a poor diet or an incorrect posture are all examples of possible causes. Read our tips below to prevent or reduce headaches.

1. Pay attention to your posture.

A cramped posture overloads head and neck muscles, which causes headaches. For example, it is common for people to sit hunched over their laptop or because their monitor is too low. A laptop stand or monitor riser can help you adopt a healthy, upright posture.

Raise your screens
Sit upright
Relieve head and neck muscles

"Adopt a healthy, upright posture when sitting"

2. Optimise your workspace.

Make sure you use a good monitor. This means you don't have to bend forward to read your monitor. Keep documents and other frequently used items central or close to you. This prevents constant turning of your head, neck and shoulders. Finally, ensure you have a well-adjusted chair, where your knees are at a 90° angle and you have a straight back posture with lower back support.

Use a good monitor
Centre your workspace
Use a supportive chair

"Optimise your workspace to prevent unnecessary strain and muscle tension"

3. Relax.

Headaches are often a direct result of stress. Therefore, take enough time to relax. Listen to calm music, take a warm bath or relax on the sofa. As long as you don't think about anything at all for a while. When relaxing, also pay attention to your breathing. Stress makes it shallow. Breathe deeply and calmly in and out.

Take time to relax
Pay attention to your breathing
Prevent stress

"Sometimes we need to clear our minds completely. Relax!"

4. Relax your muscles.

Tense muscles are a common cause of headaches. Stretching your back and neck muscles can help with this. Another effective way to relax the muscles is to get a massage. A neck, back and shoulder massage, in particular, is effective against headache complaints.

Stretch back and neck muscles
Get a neck, back and shoulder massage

"Tension in muscles in the back, neck and shoulders often radiates to the head and causes headaches"

5. Eat and drink healthily.

Eat enough. Have small healthy snacks between meals, such as a banana or an apple. Drink an extra 1.5 litres of water; this prevents dehydration and helps to flush out waste products. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugar. These all contain substances that cause headaches. Therefore, consume less or no coffee, alcoholic beverages and sugary snacks or drinks.

Have healthy snacks
Drink extra water
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugar

"Minimise the consumption of headache-causing substances"

6. Ensure sufficient exercise.

Exercising clears your head, reduces stress and helps you sleep better. Sufficient exercise is therefore important in preventing headaches. Do you already have a headache? Even a short walk will cause your body to produce endorphins, which have a pain-relieving effect.

Exercise two/three times a week
Some exercise is better than no exercise
Take a short walk after lunch

"Exercise is important for our physical and mental health and can prevent headaches"

7. Relieve eye strain.

Avoid having to squint your eyes to see or read something. This can include setting a higher resolution on your screen, which makes everything appear larger. You can also consider adequately lighting your workspace or reading area. Furthermore, the blue light emitted from your screen can cause headaches. Special glasses that filter this light are an ideal solution.

Adjust the screen resolution
Ensure sufficient lighting
Use special computer glasses

"As soon as you have to squint your eyes to see or read something, you should adjust your workspace"